Carl Reiner passed away yesterday at the age of 98 from natural causes according to Vanity Fair.
He had an illustrious career in Hollywood that lasted over 70 both in front of and behind the camera. He is best known for creating The Dick Van Dyke Show. However, he did so much more.
In front of the camera, we saw him on the show he created as Alan Brady. However, he was in movies like It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Jerk, and Oh Gd!. He also guest-starred on so many great series like Mad About You, Ally McBeal, The Bernie Mac Show, House, Two and a Half Men, Hot In Cleveland, Young & Hungry, and Angela Tribeca. He was acting up until he died.
That was not his only facet. He was also a comedy writer during the Golden Age of television, and his words helped to inspire a lot of today’s sitcom writers. The things that he and Mel Brooks did together was comedy gold. Which is probably why they had a friendship that lasted 70 years. In fact, Reiner’s last Instagram was to celebrate his best friend’s 94th birthday on Sunday.
Reiner had two partners in life, Brooks and his wife of 65 years, Estelle Reiner. Together, they had three children, Lucas, Annie, and Rob. Rob Reiner wrote this about his father’s passing, “As I write this my heart is hurting. He was my guiding light.”
Together, the father and son spent the last few years bashing Donald Trump. I have a feeling Trump won’t be getting rest anytime soon because, you know, Reiner is going to be haunting it.
Today, remember Reiner, as he lived, with laughs. Discover the great things he did for comedy by watching some of his genius work. There was no one like him. Well, maybe Mell Brooks, but no one else. Maybe Sid Caesar, but that is it. Wait, I will stop there because he truly was a legend.